Postmodernism – Disillusionment, Longing, and the Rise of Trump

“What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You've felt it your entire life, that there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad.”

― Morpheus, Matrix

The sociocultural undercurrents of the world are an ever-evolving entity. They are always changing in a constant interplay within popular culture, science, politics, and philosophy. Today's seemingly hectic political and social climate may appear to be an aberration in recent years – perhaps just a brief intermission between more sensible times. In reality, today’s discourse has evolved under the auspices of the all-encompassing philosophical paradigm of postmodernism. To really appreciate the ideas of postmodernism we first have to analyze its metaphysical precursor – Modernism.

Modernism evolved as a reaction to the Romanticist movement of the early-to-mid 19^th century. Romanticism held that human emotion and passion overpowered logic and reason, a response to the heavy commoditization of the industrial revolution. Modernism aimed to take back the reigns with the embrace of a sort of neo-enlightenment value system – placing rationality, logic, and the power of sheer human will as the peak of cultural actualization.

One of the primary elements of Modernism as a philosophical paradigm is the espousing of the idea of a grand Meta Narrative within society. Modernism holds that there exists objective knowledge to be known, objective moral values to be upheld, and a gradual vertical progression of mankind, both technologically and spiritually. The overwhelming ideological zeitgeist of the modernist era can be observed in the architecture of the time, with the Empire State Building being a prime example of modernism in visual form. The architecture features sharp, strong design elements, with layers becoming progressively tapered toward the top, being capped by a triumphant spire aimed toward the heavens. Modernism embodied the idea that through the relentless drive to attain objective beauty, uphold universal ideals, and embrace the march of progress, humanity would find itself among the stars some day.

By the end of World War II, there was a major shift in the ideological currents of the West. The development and deployment of the atomic bomb showed the world that all of civilization’s progress and its grandeur, could be destroyed by own hands in fiery flash. This ultimately lead to a more cynical view of the world as well as the future that was in store.

Enter Postmodernism

The defining idea of Postmodernism is the rejection of the meta-narrative. It holds that there exist no objective truths, no defined meaning, no purpose. If all of civilization can be brought to a grinding halt by our own creations, what is the point? When you read literature of the modernist era as well as look at the fashions and architecture of the time, you see a people who are certain and confident in the future as well as the human condition. Postmodernism, either by design or simple inevitability, results in a nihilistic, cynical, and profoundly ironic view of human nature as well as the confidence of the past.

The modern phenomenon of the “SJW” movement as well as its various sister movements can be seen as a logical metastasizing of the postmodern ideal within the context of popular culture and academia.

Enter Donald Trump

Without taking a favorable or unfavorable view of the current president, one can extrapolate that he is a logical reaction to postmodernism. He exists both as an ultimate manifestation of the cynical postmodern ideal as well as a cry for the return of the confidence and spirit of the past. Consider the now-popular phrase adopted by the president as well as his proponents:

“Make America Great Again”

An initial knee-jerk reaction, and that of many of Trump’s critics, may well one of initial outrage. “America is the greatest its ever been today” or “You mean make America racist again?”. These, on the surface, both seem like fair and understandable characterizations of the president’s trademark rallying cry, however it is important to also consider the significance of this phrase within the current cultural paradigm as well as why it resonates so greatly with the president’s proponents.

A cultural zeitgeist, as an all-encompassing overarching ethos of an era is not something that can always be clearly articulated through common speech. One can feel that something is off, missing, or otherwise misplaced without understanding the underlying phenomenology. The Trump supporter is often characterized as that of a Blue-collar worker, who is concerned with the well-being of their family and health of their community. Deep philosophical analysis, being typically the function of academia, is not at the heart of the traditional Trump supporter’s concerns. This is not, however, a criticism or indictment of the Trump proponent, but rather a commentary of his priorities – being grounded by his work and concern for family.

The phrase of “Make America Great Again” is often criticized as a misguided call to action to restore a society and political order that never actually existed.

I posit that this is actually the point.

Trump’s rallying cry is far from the atavistic call to bring the nation to a more primitive state, as some would believe. It is instead calling for the restoration of the Simulacrum of America.

A Simulacrum, unlike that of a simulation, is a copy or replica of something that, in fact, had no original. Trump is not calling for the United States proper to return to a prior state. He is the standard bearer for the return to a time free of the cynicism and nihilism of postmodern thought. He calls for the return of the national spirit of the Modern Era, with embrace of objective beauty, reason, rationality, and above all, its unrelenting drive to see humanity among the stars. Trump has his hand on the pulse of society – and he knows that children of the postmodern era yearn for the sincerity and the meaning of the past, free of the irony and vapidness of modern pop-culture.

Enter the Tragic President

Despite Trump’s efforts to restore the spiritual ethos of the nation, he finds himself at odds with himself and the political environment he inhabits. Being surrounded by political opportunists, Trump is forced to defend his presidency at all costs. While being accused of corruption, collusion, and a host of other damning indictments, Trump is forced to play the game he finds himself in.

Being labeled a fabricator of “alternative facts” and an espouser of “post truth,” Trump finds himself in an ironic predicament in his drive to restore the spirit of the nation.

In his unrelenting campaign to restore virtue and align the country with its founding grand meta-narratives, Trump has become a weaponized representation of the postmodern ideal. In fighting against what is ailing the nation, he has become the embodiment of what he sought to destroy – relativism, cynicism, subjective truths.

In attempting to take the mantle for the soul of the nation, Trump has revealed himself to be both the champion of the Modern virtues of the past, as well as an ironic, tragic product of his time.